How often should law firms invoice their clients?

Should you invoice clients immediately after providing a service? Or should you wait and send out invoices on a monthly schedule? It can feel like a toss-up, especially since getting paid is important, and you’d like to have that happen as soon as possible.

But take a step back and look at the big picture.

A regular schedule helps clients know what to expect

While it can be tempting to send out bills as soon as you can to get paid faster, clients like predictability.

If you send your bills out at the same time each month, clients can know what to expect.^[1] And if they expect the bill, they will be in a better position to pay it – and pay on time. A monthly billing cycle also ensures that billing doesn’t get put off when you’re busy. Instead, clients receive invoices within a month of services, while the work you’ve done for them is still fresh in their minds.^[2]

Many firms choose to send out bills in the first week or two of the month. But ultimately, when you send out your bills isn’t as important as committing to a regular schedule.

Regular billing saves the firm time

In addition to managing client expectations, a regular billing schedule can save your firm time and energy. Because switching from one task to another breaks concentration, whack-a-mole billing can be disruptive to workflows.

Besides, regular billing comes with an additional benefit – batch billing. If your firm bills on the same day each month, it becomes much easier to send out invoices in batches, reducing the need for time spent on repetitive, administrative tasks.

Set your clients up for success when it comes to paying bills. Send out invoices on the same day each month. As an added bonus, use your practice management system’s batch billing feature to reduce repetitive tasks.

References

1. Best Practices for Law Firm Invoices
2. How Can Our Firm Stay on Top of Past-due Accounts?